Fat-bike Hack – Dave’s Cheap Fat-bike Hitch Rack

cheap-fat-bike-rack-2630

Fat-bike chum and Big Bridge welder, Puck, was looking for an inexpensive way to slap a couple of fat-bikes on the back of his ridiculously tall Jeep Cherokee.

atv-rack-

A trip to the local Harbor freight found Dave in possession of this Haul-Master (Item#69858) 500 Lb. ATV Cargo Carrier. At an affordable $42.99, this version is a good starting platform for a fat-bike rack hack!

cheap-fat-bike-rack-2629

The unit does require some assembly and, as you can see here if you look closely, Dave assembled it upside down to give him the platform size he wanted. This photo also shows the adjustable axle bolt that can convert from a 135mm fat-bike fork to a 100mm std MTB fork just in case.

cheap-fat-bike-rack-2626

The fork mount was simply welded from scrap steel and some bolts that were welded together to clamp around the Cargo Carrier.

cheap-fat-bike-rack-2628

While a simple strap holds the rear wheel fast.

cheap-fat-bike-rack-2631

Whaalaa… a simple, effective rack for about $60 bucks and a bit of time with the welder.

Note that this rack was modified from what the manufacturer intended but several months later, and trips all over Wisconsin and Iowa, it is still doing the job. If you go ahead and do a similar mod to your rack of choice and it fails don’t come crying to us!

Do you have a fat-bike related hack you’d like to hip us to? We’d sure love to show other folks how your creative juices flow. Send me a note to greg@fat-bike.com and we’ll check it out!
About Greg Smith 1127 Articles
Greg Smith, known to many site visitors as Sven Hammer, founded Fat-bike.com in 2011 and the site quickly became the #1 online community for all things Fat. You can currently find Greg outfitting Everyday Cycles; a Milwaukee, WI retailer of gear for fatbikers, adventure cyclists and urban assault riders.

13 Comments

  1. Puck didn’t have to use that gauge of steel that probably ways more than the rack to start with… Overkill and Fugly!
    I used an aluminum rack bought at Gander Mountain I believe.. Harbor freight now carries a similar one as well in aluminum too.
    No rust, and unless you ride your bike ON the rack… It can hold 3 bikes.

    • If there was a lighter gauge steel to steal I mighta used that, over kill is better than underkill in my book! As far as the fugly is concerned who gives a fuck?!?!?!

      • Here’s a couple shots of the final product. I should have taken some during the fab. Bought it stock on-line form REI for $129.00. Other materials: 10″ length of all thread, double nuts and washers, flat black spray paint and a small length of electrical conduit. Scrap that was laying around my garage basically. usea a hacksaw to judicialy remove the stock spacer and develop the new gap that will fit a surly nate (winter tires) and surly nard, (summer tires). New gap is 3 7/8″ between the frame. You can get the Thule manual at the link below to get a before and after feel. With this set-up its on and off the truck in a minute, ready to ride.

        http://www.thule.com/en-us/us/products/carriers-and-racks/bike-carriers/truck-bed-bike-carriers/thule-insta-gater-truck-bed-bike-carrier-501-_-18344

        Can’t post pics to discussion board threads. I’ll try and send pics to Jeremy email.

  2. Too bad the wheel has to come off.
    Must be a way to reto the aluminum rack to cradle the wheels and not take the wheel off (see the all aluminum one I are a few years ago pics must still be somewhere on this site)
    I’ve been making 4″ aluminum Chanel “trays” for kuat and Thule that takes all the drama out.

    • I’m kicking around ideas for one that doesn’t require wheel removal, I’m waiting till after I build the new bumper, it might have a spare tire mount on it to build off!

Comments are closed.